Fleckenstein runs Fleckenstein Capital, a short-only hedge fund that has been around for about 12 years.

Bill pens a weekly article for MSN Money, and also frequently makes media appearances where he saturates the viewer with his bearish insights.

A funny thing has happened though - after years of being a perma-bear, Fleckenstein is changing gears and shutting down his short-only hedge fund.

In its place? A long-short fund that will only charge its investors a management fee, and not a management fee plus a performance fee (normally 20%).

The reason for Fleckenstein's change of heart, according to the man himself?

A desire to have the ability to purchase stocks as well as short them, and a general distaste for the hedge fund industry as a whole.

Fleckenstein maintains that he is not "wildly bullish", however he does concede that "we might be in a trading range for a long time".

He maintains that operating a short-only fund was "nerve-wracking" and "not very much fun". He also says that the recent "carnage" in the stock market has limited the number of attractive short targets.

Fleckenstein finishes out his note (link to his blog posting below) saying that "many in the hedge fund community have behaved in a disgraceful manner" over the past couple of years, and that he "rather not be part of that industry going forward."

I guess the burning question is: does the shutting of Fleckenstein's short-only fund signify that we are in fact close to a bottom?